HALFWAY HOUSE (RESIDENTIAL REHABILITATION PROGRAMME)

Photo montage of TNCM residents and staff gathering together for recreation time, with workshops conducted by Pastor Don and participating in games to increase bonding amongst the brothers.

MEDIA PUBLICATION

TNCM staff Johnny Chin in an interview with The New Paper published on August 27, 2012, giving testimony of his drug-related past and ways to overcome all odds.

ABOUT A HALFWAY HOUSE

The term ‘halfway house’ speaks for itself. A halfway house meets the ex-offenders’ and ex-drug addicts’ needs and gives a hand to them by meeting them halfway.

Generally, the objectives of a halfway house are:

(a) Help those addicted to drugs to quit their bad habits

(b) Help those addicted to drugs and the ex-offenders to reintegrate back to society

(c) To provide jobs and accommodations for the drug addicts and ex-convicts

(d) Equip the residents with suitable practical skills

You might ask, “How does a halfway house achieve all those objectives?”

A halfway house achieves its objectives mainly through its residential programme. In most halfway houses, residential programmes consist of residents living day to day, following a schedule and going through various forms of therapy. For instance, work therapy, spiritual therapy, etc. A lifestyle based on a schedule, in other words, a timetable, means having fixed times for waking up, going to bed, meals, recreation and work.

Residents of a halfway house undergo work therapy to be equipped with new skills and adjust to working life. Going out to work is essentially work therapy that helps in meeting the objectives of going to a halfway house to reside. Every halfway house does not run residential programmes in a specific similar manner.

In fact, most halfway houses are grounded in a spiritual faith. Where it be grounded in Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism or Islam - such foundations of running the halfway house attribute to the spiritual therapy that residents go through while under programme.

Along with the schedule that has to be followed, residents are required to follow house rules and follow the rehabilitation programme’s requirements. For example, those under programme might not be allowed a personal handphone. This is not to restrict their freedom but rather it is a means of protecting them from whatever that had gotten them into trouble in the first place.